


Human Practices

by abandoned_quiche



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, memories of Rose Quartz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 18:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6020983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abandoned_quiche/pseuds/abandoned_quiche
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>None of the Crystal Gems know anything about looking after children, but perhaps it is time that they tried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Human Practices

**Author's Note:**

> Fandomweekly #002: Practice Makes Perfect

Pearl's first reaction to the general situation was blank confusion. She wasn't alone in this; Garnet retreated back into herself and Amethyst didn't have much to say about anything - even the _human_ seemed at a loss. Weren't they all? It wasn't meant to happen like this. It was never meant to happen at all; their lives had been dangerous to that point, none of them could deny that, but Pearl wasn't sure she'd ever _actually_ entertained the notion of what life would be like without the presence of Rose Quartz. She'd sometimes said things like _I might not always be around, you know_ , and Pearl had nodded and taken it as seriously as Rose had implied she should without ever really taking in the enormity of what that would be _like_. What could she do?! Pearls were formed in order to be accessories to greatness until they were discarded or destroyed. Rose had lifted her from that fate, but was _this_ really better than _that_?

" _I'll take care of him_ ," Greg had said. Pearl had objected, at the start. First he stole Rose from them emotionally, then he wanted to be the sole custodian of this _child_ thing in possession of Rose's gem!?

Garnet had stopped her, at that point. " _This is a human thing, Pearl. What do we know about looking after children?_ "

The second thing that Pearl did was to gather as many books as she could. Research indicated that humans had no reliable universal information network to gather intelligence from - not for the first time, Pearl found herself wondering how humans ever managed to achieve _anything_. But they had books, _as fragile and ephemeral as humans themselves_ , and that seemed to be the next best thing. They had been on the planet for thousands of years, had known humans - known _of_ humans - and seen them, their children, their growth, their lifespan. Rose had always been fascinated, but Pearl hadn't taken much of it in. Like Garnet had said, _this is a human thing_. Their lifecycle was interesting in an off-handed sort of a way, but it also seemed very impractical. Human children were so helpless, and even humans themselves could only do their best in raising them. This was clearly a process that had been going on for as long as there had _been_ humans, and yet they still didn't know what they were doing?! _How typical of them_.

Greg had sputtered into his coffee when Pearl asked him if he'd been properly breastfeeding the child - _Steven_.

"Uh, no, uh--... guys don't do that, Pearl."

"Oh. Well, do you have a woman present who can perform that function?"

He flustered and blushed (although Pearl didn't really understand why). "No--! Look, it's okay, okay? He's getting fed. He's doing fine."

Pearl wasn't sure she _entirely_ trusted Greg to know how best to take care of Rose's gem, but knew that that wasn't all they had to worry about in this situation. If it was _only_ that, then she would have taken the gem back long ago - but as much as Greg didn't know about gem culture, she too didn't know about _humans_. Though it pained her to admit it, Steven was probably best off with Greg. For the time being.

Other than worrying about _the Steven thing_ , Pearl knew that the three of them could do little more than continue on with their missions. Rose was gone, but the work remained - and in a way, there was momentary relief in having something else to concentrate on. Conversations were filled with silence where Rose should have been, but they still knew how to fight alongside one another.

 

"I gotta go out of town for the weekend. I can't really bring Steven - would you three be up to looking after him?"

Amethyst shrugged and Garnet was silent. Pearl tightened her clasped hands in her lap. "Don't you have any humans you can ask? I'm not sure that we--... human infants are somewhat--..."

Greg smiled sheepishly. "I get it, I get it. It's hard. I mean, it _is_ hard. I just thought you might want to spend some time with him, that's all. I know that it's... difficult, but he's still Rose's--..."

"--We'll do it." (Pearl found herself the focus of three surprised stares.) "... You're right. He still has Rose's gem, despite everything, so that's... just something we'll need to get used to. We might not know anything about human children, but he's still a gem. ...Maybe?"

"Well, don't do anything too crazy with him...! Just make sure he's comfortable. Uh, you gotta feed him and change him too, of course."

"With what?"

"Huh?"

"You said that he needs to be changed. I'm not sure I understand why. Are children regularly exchanged in this world? Oh, unless you mean--"

"... Yeeaaah."

"It does make sense that we would want him to master the power of his gem, but I wonder if it might be too early for full transformation just yet? We don't really have a precedent for this..."

"Um... Pearl?"

She had been deep in thought; she looked up on hearing her name. "Yes? What is it?"

"You... still have all those books you were reading, right? About looking after kids?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Maybe... we should read them together, sometime. The four of us! ...Before I go."

Pearl looked mildly confused, but saw no reason to disagree. "Oh! Well, if you like, I suppose we could..."

Greg knew it was hard for _anybody_ to bring up a child, let alone three alien women with no concept of... most human things. _Maybe_ , he thought, _it might be better if I stick around this weekend, help them out a bit_. The more they practiced, the better they'd get, surely? It was, after all, a learning curve. For all of them.


End file.
